Sunday 26th June 2022 (Proper 8)
St Anne’s, Wrenthorpe (Eucharist)
1Kings 19:15-16, 19-21
Psalms 16
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
There is an urgency about an itch that needs to be scratched, isn’t there?
Perhaps it is a very real and physical “itch” – the face or the body….
[Anyone who has spent time in an MRI scanner tube might have pondered the practicalities of this…. I had one on Thursday, it was a horrible experience, especially when I thought I was going to sneeze….!]
Maybe this itchy-scratchy moment is a metaphor for something in your life that must be addressed NOW….. or maybe you are seeing such an urgency in someone else…
Perhaps it’s an itch of a more metaphysical form… or spiritual…. An observation about yourself and where you are in this life….
Regardless…. An itch needs attention and it needs it now.
Beware says St Paul!
Live by the Spirit and not by the needs of the flesh!
OK, there is more to this than the simple urgency of scratching…
I simply make a connection with what we regard as being urgent and distracting.
In fact, I might not speak again of bodily itching today, you may be pleased to hear!
What is Paul actually saying….?
We hear today from Paul’s “angry” letter to the various Christian communities in Galatia – in modern-day Turkey.
He is responding to personal criticisms, and to his ‘opponents’, who seem to be leading the developing congregations up the garden path, so to speak!
The believers had been told that they needed to be Christian-Jews before they found salvation in Jesus. This meant circumcision and following the Torah.
Paul’s retort, in this letter, shows he is frustrated that the believers are being weighed down with stuff that didn’t matter – that circumcision made no difference to Christ’s message of salvation, and that the Law only described holiness and didn’t actually form it…
Today’s passage moves to Pauls summary of how freedom is an invitation to a loving service to God and one another – NOT the freedom to do as one pleases, gratifying personal need before anything else.
It might seem all too easy to focus on the “lists” that Paul offers – especially the list of ‘bad stuff’! And even more tempting to utilise such a list as a tool for judgement on others! I will just leave that there….
No, Paul reminds us that the life of discipleship has a purity in loving our neighbours as ourselves – that dwelling in the Spirit means NOT being a slave to the self, the body and the urgencies of life.
When we hear Paul speaking of what is good and bad, we must look for that bigger picture of God – of the Kingdom… and what it means for us.
In Luke’s Gospel today, we encounter Jesus, in His determination to go to Jerusalem, regardless of what might happen there.
He is with His companions who find themselves at odds with the core of their Masters’ ministry, and how He sees the next stage of the journey.
Before we go any further, as we have been following John’s Gospel until recently, it is worthwhile to consider what else has happened prior to this episode. What is Luke trying to convey to us through this story?
Previously….
The twelve were given authority, for healing, curing and casting out (9:1-6);
We hear of the the challenging reality of becoming a follower – “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (9:23);
Then we had the Transfiguration – a scene of great mystery, on top of a mountain – and we encounter Elijah, with Moses – connecting the past and the present – The Christ, with the Law and the Prophets – with God the Father validating the Son that all might listen to him (9:28-36);
And yet they are not listening to Him: “Listen carefully to me”, He says …. I shall be handed over….. its all going to very real and very harsh….. And they still argued amongst themselves about who was the greatest! (9:46-47)
He even showed them what to do – that by welcoming a child, they welcomed Him! (9:48)
And today, passing through Samaria, on the road to Jerusalem, there is no welcome and, in an echo of Elijah testing the believers of Baal, His followers seek to call down fire upon this village…..
And Jesus rebukes them……
Well what else would He do? He isn’t about retribution and punishment – he seeks followers from the heart.
They just didn’t seem to “get” Him, did they?
They still can’t see what they have signed up for!
Of course, that begs the question: do we? Do we see?
The final part of this chapter, though familiar to us, needs a little unpacking.
Jesus encounters potential followers.
They do not really know what following means.
Jesus challenges this.
One offers his service without being called, having no idea about what Jesus is about. Maybe he has just seen Him “in action” and is inspired to follow…..
Jesus makes clear that such an offer must be understood in the reality of His own life – one of self-sacrifice, living a socially deviant existence, away from the comforts of home – on the margins.
Look at the people he associates with?
Jesus is then at odds with the Law when He invites another follower, who then pleads his need to obey the laws of burying the dead. Jesus isn’t showing a lack of compassion with someone mourning a loved one, He is challenging a blind adherence to Mosaic Law, which is perceived as having more value and importance than the needs of the poor, the blind, the lost…… the needs of the Kingdom…. God’s Kingdom.
Jesus speaks with authority. Yet if the Law proves to be a barrier to following, what then must one do?
And then one who offers support but wants to attend to family and home-life matters first, as if he has it all mapped out, on his own terms! “Let me just go and do this thing….then I will follow you”.
Jesus can be portrayed as having a fairly ‘loose’ relationship with His own family, although we are aware of His great love for them, in particular for His mother.
Jesus is pushing against the conventions of the day. He challenges this man more on his unwillingness to say “yes” without counting the cost – choosing instead to turn back – doing the whole disciple-thing some other time!
Does this sound familiar to you? It does to me!
These moments with Jesus, demonstrate the irresistible nature of His call and the urgency of His mission to proclaim the kingdom of God immediately.
Jesus doesn’t disregard the reality of human existence, but His focus is resolute – His gaze is fixed on Jerusalem – He knows that NOW is the time for Him.
Do we make those connections?
Our scripture passages (and I encourage you to read about Elijah and Elisha in 1 Kings) speak to us of our own journey with God, and the daily call to discipleship.
Jesus calls us to follow Him in this age, and these passages reveal to us the the challenge of such a life and the need to know what that call means – the easy temptations to turn aside – and the sacrifices that may have to be made. The itchy-scratchy urges that must be thwarted!
Yet, what about the everyday? How is discipleship strengthened, understood and lived out in our daily lives?
And what about those who struggle to live authentic lives of discipleship because of persecution and violence?
None of us have definitive answers for the “how” of discipleship. I certainly don’t!
One thing is very clear! We are not “THE DISCIPLES”, “THE TWELVE”….. alongside Jesus in His ministry on earth, pulled from fishing boats and tax booths….. hearing His living voice, following his actual footsteps, watching Him heal and raise up…..
They were faithful and did their best to live this new, edgy, life. They had the best of teachers….. in the flesh! And yet they still missed the point.
We are “post-resurrection believers”! We have the benefits of two thousand years of prayer and learning, and yet even that doesn’t make us instant disciples, able to build the Kingdom without issue or effort!
How could it?
So how do we get there? How have we borne witness to our own journeys with God – conscious of our efforts and failings, aware of the presence of Jesus, yet struggling with the world and its distractions and trials?
Of the body….. of our society and communities…. So acute right now in times of great distress and anxiety.
Much has been said and written on this. Rowan Williams speaks of there needing to be a sense of watching and waiting, of perception through our eyes and ears – of being present and ‘abiding’ in Jesus – with an expectancy that God will act (maybe through me, or you) – a state of awareness and readiness.
Asking – what next?
When I was younger I knew I was called to something. My parents lived lives of service and, living in a vicarage, my most clear model of being a follower of Jesus was as a priest. Later, as I began to explore a vocation, I became more aware of what this might mean.
The journey to me being here, now, has taken many turns and has often stalled completely.
Why? Many of the diversions I encountered – in listening and discerning; in doing and changing, were dictated by pressing needs: relationships, physical necessities, putting other people first, putting myself first, earthly activities such as earning money etc.
The call to come back, to return to God and what God wanted of me, was ever present but not always heard…. There always seems to be so much that shouts for our attention – to seduce and distract…
Lukes Gospel indicates that, as Christian Disciples, we are called to welcome everyone into the Kingdom, leaving no one out, not making the distinctions that the world makes, but committed to respect and dignity, from a reverence for God in whose image each one of us is made.
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
I don’t need to be a lay minister to do that. And neither do you. Listen. Watch and wait…. Know that God is moving in you, wanting you to follow Jesus and make whatever difference you can.
Without counting the cost….
For there is much work to do. Every day.
To be honest, much of the time we are not overly challenged with this. Some people chose a more disruptive and faith-affirming life to offer their discipleship, or maybe have it thrust upon them.
We all walk our own journey with God. And yet we are not alone. Maybe we imagine that we have only our own relationship with God to worry about. And yet we walk with each other. We have a shared discipleship of community – family, school, work…. Yes, even church! Right here!
Now, whilst we pray, or during the eucharist, look around you and see your sisters and your brothers. They, like you, get distracted and pulled away from God.
How will you help them stay true, and help build that awareness and readiness in them? How will you ask for help when ~you~ struggle with this?
Let’s face it, staying focused and present with God, and building a relationship of joy is filled with challenges.
There will be times of dryness, persecution and failure.
The Kingdom comes first. That is what marks us out as Christians, as true followers and disciples of Jesus. He asks – even commands – that we place His values before our own needs and wants.
We know it won’t be easy, we have been told so, and yes, we know so from our own experiences. There can be no turning back. We are called to a life of Christian service – not for a season, or a moment – turning up when we feel like it.
How can this be sustained?
Remain faithful in prayer, in communion with one another and in sacrament, thus being in Communion in the Body, and sharing with, and being supportive of others.
Pay attention to the world around you and those in need – and yes, to your own needs, as a human being!
Speak up when you think no one else will. Challenge injustice and the darkness of the soul that we see in our social, political and economic systems. Listen for the Living Word of God… and endeavour to be the Gospel that others must hear.
So do it in this life. Do it today. Do it now.
I leave you with the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer – the German theologian, executed for his resistance to the Nazi regime, in 1945:
He says:
“And if we answer the call to discipleship, where will it lead us? What decisions and partings will it demand? To answer this question we shall have to go to him, for only he knows the answer. Only Jesus Christ, who bids us follow him, knows the journey’s end. But we do know that it will be a road of boundless mercy. Discipleship means joy.” (43)
Amen
Bibliography
Bonhoeffer, D. (1963) The Cost of Discipleship, Macmillan
Williams, J. (2011) Lectionary Reflections: Years A, B & C, SPCK, London
Williams, R. (2016) Being Disciples, SPCK, London
Wright, N.T. (2004) Luke for Everyone – Second Edition, SPCK, London
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2022/24-june/faith/sunday-s-readings/2nd-sunday-after-trinity